CHICO — Interim Fire Chief Keith Carter is unsure about a proposal to use firefighters to patrol downtown but said the department will step forward however it can if such efforts are desired.

"Obviously the Fire Department is here for the community to do whatever we need to do in whatever way we can to assist," he said.

Former city councilor Bob Evans publicly made the suggestion at last weeks City Council meeting, after submitting a letter recently to city officials. His idea is to address downtown's transient problem and related issues with existing employees — firefighters.

"These employees are young, in shape, and would present as outstanding authority figures. They wear uniforms and they are trained and experienced at interaction with the public in crisis situations," he wrote in his letter. "They wear badges much as police officers do ..."

Evans said Friday his thinking is that at any given time, significantly more firefighters are on duty than police officers on patrol. It could make a big difference if a few firefighters could dedicate two or three hours a day in known problem areas, "instead of being tethered to their station waiting for medical or fire calls."

Evans knows the firefighters may not have a lot of free time but said they could prioritize such an effort before other tasks when not on calls. He doubts such patrols would not impact response time any more than a similar effect when they get a call while shopping for groceries.

"If both sides want to do it, I don't see why there would be any obstacles that could not be overcome to make this happen," he said.

If a decision is made for firefighters to become involved with downtown patrols, the department will work in that direction, Carter said.

"We would need more answers," Carter said. "I would hope if this were to come to fruition, this would have clear goals, clear parameters. We are certainly willing to sit down and talk about it."

The interim chief said he would not support pulling firefighters from other stations for the downtown effort. It would have to be firefighters from Station 1, at Eighth and Salem streets.

That station is also the second busiest station in the city, with 2,682 calls last year. Station 2, on East Fifth Avenue, is the highest call station, with 3,626 calls in 2012.

"One of the issues we are going to have is, contrary to what's been portrayed, we are very busy," Carter said. "We don't sit around waiting for calls."

A company officer, engineer and two firefighters work at Station 1. As the closest station to the college area, they frequently go from call to call at night, but can also be busy in the daytime, like last Wednesday, when they were gone the entire shift.

"We are just like every other city department. We are pushed for time constraints and people constraints and we are running on our shoestrings," Carter said. "All that plays a factor."

When firefighters are not on calls, they are maintaining stations, maintaining equipment and performing other essential tasks. They also spend time preparing fire plans with businesses or practicing with the ladder truck.

"We couldn't do (patrols) on a routine basis. It would be "as time allowed" kind of thing," Carter said. "We will do what we can, in any matter that we can, to make it work."

Evans asked for the item to be agendized. The council is expected to address his request at a future meeting.